Ahmed Muhammad Z, Li Shao-Jian, Xue Xia, Yin Xiang-Jie, Ren Shun-Xiang, Jiggins Francis M, Greeff Jaco M, Qiu Bao-Li
Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; Department of Genetics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
PLoS Pathog. 2015 Feb 12;10(2):e1004672. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004672. eCollection 2015 Feb.
Facultative bacterial endosymbionts are associated with many arthropods and are primarily transmitted vertically from mother to offspring. However, phylogenetic affiliations suggest that horizontal transmission must also occur. Such horizontal transfer can have important biological and agricultural consequences when endosymbionts increase host fitness. So far horizontal transmission is considered rare and has been difficult to document. Here, we use fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and multi locus sequence typing (MLST) to reveal a potentially common pathway of horizontal transmission of endosymbionts via parasitoids of insects. We illustrate that the mouthparts and ovipositors of an aphelinid parasitoid become contaminated with Wolbachia when this wasp feeds on or probes Wolbachia-infected Bemisia tabaci AsiaII7, and non-lethal probing of uninfected B. tabaci AsiaII7 nymphs by parasitoids carrying Wolbachia resulted in newly and stably infected B. tabaci matrilines. After they were exposed to infected whitefly, the parasitoids were able to transmit Wolbachia efficiently for the following 48 h. Whitefly infected with Wolbachia by parasitoids had increased survival and reduced development times. Overall, our study provides evidence for the horizontal transmission of Wolbachia between insect hosts by parasitic wasps, and the enhanced survival and reproductive abilities of insect hosts may adversely affect biological control programs.
兼性细菌内共生体与许多节肢动物相关联，主要通过母体垂直传播给后代。然而，系统发育关系表明水平传播也必定会发生。当内共生体提高宿主适合度时，这种水平转移可能会产生重要的生物学和农业后果。到目前为止，水平传播被认为很罕见且难以记录。在此，我们使用荧光原位杂交（FISH）和多位点序列分型（MLST）来揭示内共生体通过昆虫寄生蜂进行水平传播的一种潜在常见途径。我们证明，当这种黄蜂取食或探测感染沃尔巴克氏体的烟粉虱AsiaII7时，一种蚜小蜂科寄生蜂的口器和产卵器会被沃尔巴克氏体污染，并且携带沃尔巴克氏体的寄生蜂对未感染的烟粉虱AsiaII7若虫进行非致命探测会导致新的、稳定感染的烟粉虱母系产生。在接触感染的粉虱后，寄生蜂能够在接下来的48小时内有效地传播沃尔巴克氏体。被寄生蜂感染沃尔巴克氏体的粉虱存活率提高且发育时间缩短。总体而言，我们的研究为寄生蜂在昆虫宿主之间水平传播沃尔巴克氏体提供了证据，而昆虫宿主生存和繁殖能力的增强可能会对生物防治计划产生不利影响。
